Admission applications....so many q's and not sure where to find the a's!

Didnt want this to get lost in the other very helpful thread but would be most grateful for some advice (and please forgive if the questions are stupid, I'm a first timer and havent a bloody clue).

I live in herts and have to put 3 choices on the applic form. I live on the 'outskirts' of a relatively bad estate, as luck would have it my closest school as the crow flies is an 'outstanding' small school out of the estate, about 660m (am I right in thinking the metre distance is a contributing factor after the other 'rules'?) I have two reservations about the school; firstly that it is very small so after everything he still might not get in despite it being close and also that is is quite, erm, 'high brow'...I have concerns that my son would be attending saturday morning parties at the stables (bit glib but you get my point) and not feel that he can fit in.

The other schools, near to me on the estate, not to put too finer point on it are crap, and hell will freeze over before he goes to them.

My other option is in the neighbouring borough (1300 m away) and I have yet to see it but I like the sound of it, heard lots good things, good results, nice staff and atmosphere and suspect I am going to like it. I gather it is not over subscribed and other local good schools to it.

So, my questions, if I dont put school a (the posh but good one) as my no.1 choice and go for school b but dont get it because of distance am I less likely to get school a?? Eg; if I put A down as 2nd choice and someone who lives further away puts it down as first choice would they get it over me?Are choices 1-2-3 all equal?

You have exactly the same priority for school A regardless of whether you make it your first choice or your last choice. Someone who puts school A down as their first preference will not under any circumstances get priority over someone who makes it their second or third choice. The only significance of the order of your choices is to determine which school gets offered if there are places available for you at more than one. So if under the admission criteria for each school your child gets places at your second and third choices you will only be offered your second choice and you will be on the waiting list for your first choice.

If you want to apply to a school which is in another council's area you simply put it as one of your preferences when you apply to your council. Your council will forward your application to the other council and find out from them whether or not there is a place for your child at that school.

Thankyou very much. Can I ask then that if my ds met the criteria & there was availability at all 3 choices would I automatically get choice 1? Also, if the schools in herts inform you of your allocation in Jan but the neighbouring borough dont until 2 months later how would I know which school is be given, its silly but I would be concerned about missing a place nearby while waiting on the other borough allocating places. Many thanks.

I think applications in Herts have to be in by January but not sure when decisions are given. Am not sure what happens if decisions are given at different times in different counties but I'm sure someone on these threads will know

Yes, if there was a place available for your son at all three schools you would only be offered the place at your first choice. You will be informed of the place being offered by Herts, not the schools. January 15th is the date by which applications have to be submitted. You won't receive an offer until April. The offer will come from Herts even if it is for the school in the neighbouring council. If the school in your neighbouring council is your first choice and there is a place available then that is the only school you will be offered.

Your choices are all equal. To illustrate. there are 2 things that could happen to stop you getting the school you like 1300m away:

1. You put it down as your second choice with the 'posh' school as your first choice. The 'posh' school then offers you a place and so now the school 1300 won't offer you one at all even if you live close enough and they have spaces free.You don't ever get 2 places to choose from.

2. The school 1300m away gets lots of applications from siblings this year and also lots from people who live less than 1300m away. By the time they get to 1000m, the places are all gone and therefore anyone living 1300m away doesn't have a hope of getting a place (except later from the waiting list perhaps).

So the order you put them down is important if all the schools on the list have a place for you because you get a place at the school you list the highest that can accept you on distance.BUT the order is not at all important in terms of messing up your chances of getting a place at your 2nd choice if your 1st choice is full

A last example:You put 'posh' school first and 1300m school second. Posh school cannot offer you a space.I put 1300m as my first and only choice because I love it (very bad idea to only put one choice by the way!) but I live 1400m away.If there is one space left, you will get it. You qualify more than I do

The other thing that you need to consider is the admission arrangements for the schools involved. All Herts community schools have common admission criteria but there are many schools in Herts that are their own admission authority and therefore may have a different admission criteria. You also refer to a school in a neighbouring borough. Is that still in Herts or is it in another Local Authority? If it is then it may well have a different admission criteria, which may influence your choice.

Assuming that they are all actually Herts schools then the admission criteria is looked after children, then medical / social followed by siblings, nearest school and then a distance criteria.

You therefore need to check with Herts which is your nearest school (usually you can do this on the web site). If it is school at 660 metres then this will have a higher admission priority for you then any other school you choose because it is the nearest school, the other schools they will put you in admission criteria order based solely on the staright line distance measurement from your house to the school.

It would therefore seem that if the school at 660 metres is your preference that putting this down as first preference will be best. What you then put down as next preference will depend on how far away the schools are and what you believe your chances of getting a place are.

One other consideration which you might or might not want to factor in is secondary schools. Some primary schools give a level of priority to some secondary schools and therefore again may influence your preferences to primary schools.

Thankyou so much for the advice. Admission - the 'other' school is in hillingdon which seems to have a similar criteria list as the herts schools. As for secondary schools none of the primaries I am looking at have a 'feeder' school so the kids go all over the place and therefore doesn't really influence the decision. This has clarified the process so once again many thanks.

You should go on the waiting list for all three in that situation. If it happens it is worth checking with Herts that you are actually on the waiting lists. Some LAs are better than others in this regard.